There may be a time and a place for everything. The difficulty is figuring out when and where.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Random Crap

1. I'm always surprised when I give a take-home exam that every single student doesn't get an A. I suppose that means that I write a good take-home exam, but I don't get how, when you've got all the time in the world, all of your notes, and all of the books in front of you, how you can get a D-. I just don't get it.

2. Yes, students everywhere, there are stupid questions. For example, it is stupid to ask your professor whether she can "point you in the right direction" on one of the questions on the take-home exam.

3. I've got a student who is basically homeless and carless. (This is the problem with students commuting from home - sometimes parents decide that it's not the kid's home anymore.) I wish there were more I could do for the student, but it's almost too late for me to do much. Damn.

4. I sent off my first couple of applications!

5. I've got a meeting in a half hour. I don't want to go, partly because I'm very intimidated as I'm standing in for somebody much more senior than myself (in life, and at the university). Also, I should remain silent throughout as I'm not really a delegate to this group, and I hate remaining silent for any length of time, especially in late-afternoon. This meeting is scheduled to last 1 1/2 hours. Sigh.

That's all for now. I'm sleepy. Maybe some more caffeine would be a good idea? Perhaps I have time to get a latte....

I hate the homeless/carless student problem. I feel so bad for them and try to point them to resources etc -- but nothing I can do for them will help much. If they have a hard time making it to campus, sometimes the best thing you can do for them is to tell them how to withdraw so that it won't hurt their academic record later.

Oh, there are definitely stupid questions. My favorite is when I ask the class if they have any questions pertaining to whatever we just went over and someone will raise his/her hand and ask if he/she can go to the bathroom.